Android Phone

An Android phone is a mobile phone that uses Google’s Android operating system. The Android OS is made for high-end phones with the purpose of helping consumers use their phones more like a computer. Android phones are able to run complex third-party applications, which can range from YouTube videos to internet games. These programs don’t run as well or fast as on a modern personal computer, but the increased functionality of Android, combined with the natural portability of any mobile phone makes it an easy sell for some. Phones developed with the Android OS are also able to run more than one program at the same time, which is hugely convenient for many cell phone users.

The Android Operating System is based on the Linux kernel, and is an open source platform, which allows regular users to contribute to its overall programming for themselves and others. Android has already grown a lot from its original 2008 builds, and already supports a host of new media players, connectivity options, Web features, and other new options. The system has also shed some of its issues with bugs, and Google has installed a number of its own features for convenient offline use, like Google Calendar. This all makes for an interesting OS is a worthy competitor to any other kind of smartphone.

Google Android isn’t the first operating system to be used for cell phones; many smartphones come equipped with Windows Mobile, for example, and Apple’s iPhones have their one unique OS. However, Android’s open source capability means that the OS is constantly improving on itself as its consumers make upgrades to it that are designed to make the phone more accessible and convenient. This is a bold move by Google, as it allows some possibility for the OS to be hacked and placed on other phones. However, the impact of piracy on mobile phones is fairly limited, which is why Google felt able to take this risk with their Android phones.

However, Android phones are not without their disadvantages, especially when compared to their competitors. First, it lacks some of the major development that has gone into more popular types of phones, like the iPhone. That phone has become very famous for the sheer amount of applications built specifically for it, and Android phones simply don’t have that kind of third-party developer support yet. While that is slowly changing, Android phones won’t be able to compete until the OS is offered in more types of phones. Also, mobile phone memory space is lagging behind their OS performance, and its hard to operate Android as the portable computer it’s marketed as when many Android phones can’t hold more than a few gigabytes of space.

The first Android phone premiered in 2008 on T-Mobile’s G1 phone. That phone got mostly positive reviews, but the buzz was mostly centered on Android’s ability to grow. Now, the OS is available on more than 15 different phones. Google has also announced their own phone, which will be available unlocked for consumers who are eager to try the OS and phone, but don’t want to sign up for a new T-Mobile plan.

Android phones, so far, have proven to be good smartphones, but little else. While they are compatible with many different types of Web applications, this had already been the direction in which phones had been going for years. The idea of using a phone as a mobile computer as well is an enticing one, but Android phones have yet to make any more significant progress on that front over their competitors. Android is exciting mainly because of its big-name backing and ability to grow from it open-source programming, but it has yet to live up to that promise.

This Android Phone Review is Written/Updated
on Mar 18th, 2010 and filed under Consumer Electronics.
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